Vetted by NeuralPress's Multi-Agent Verifier for strict factual validity and event relevance. Our compliance engine cross-checks and filters search results to ensure zero false correlations or misleading content.
Economic Recovery Focus Areas
Strategic priorities identified for Sri Lanka's sustainable economic growth.
Primary Sources
Economists chart Sri Lanka's next steps as global shocks test reform ...
The panel discussion in session. From left: Daily FT Editor/CEO Nisthar Cassim (Moderator), Gamani Corea Foundation Board Director Manjula de Silva, CBSL Deputy Governor Dr. Chandranath Amarasekara, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Economist Arani Rodrigo and Peradeniya University Senior Professor of Economics Prof. O.G. Dayaratna-Banda -Pix by Sameera Wijesingha Gamani Corea Foundation and the Sri Lanka Economic Association host timely seminar to explore new ideas for Sri Lanka’s future Central Bank Deputy Governor Dr. Chandranath Amarasekara expertly frames the context Expert panel urges avoiding return to subsidy-driven and debt-fuelled growth model Export growth, reserves, fiscal discipline and investment seen as critical buffers Businesses face mounting logistics, insurance, wage and energy pressures Sri Lanka needs to treat global developments as creative destruction, and explore new ideas for sustainable growth Sri Lanka’s post-crisis recovery is entering a more difficult phase as policymakers, economists and businesses attempt to preserve stability amid rising geopolitical tensions, volatile energy markets and growing uncertainty in the global economy. Setting the tone and dining the scope of a recent seminar co-hosted by the Gamani Corea Foundation and the Sri Lanka Economic Association on “Sri Lanka’s Current Macroeconomic Policy Directions in the Current Global Volatility,” Sri Lanka Economic Association President Prof. Sirimevan Colombage said Sri Lanka, as a small open economy, remained highly vulnerable to external shocks, particularly while still recovering from the 2022 economic crisis and the aftereffects of Cyclone Ditwah. He said recent developments, including US tariff actions and the conflict in the Middle East, had intensified risks facing the economy at a time when Sri Lanka was still rebuilding macroeconomic stability. At the forum, speakers warned that the country’s next challenge would be sustaining reform momentum while rebuilding reserves, strengthening fiscal discipline and accelerating export-led growth in an increasingly unstable external environment. Participants argued that Sri Lanka could no longer return to the cycle of stimulus-led growth, untargeted subsidies and heavy borrowing that culminated in the 2022 economic crisis, while also cautioning that repeated global shocks continue to expose structural weaknesses in the economy. The context Keynote speaker Central Bank Deputy Governor Dr. Chandranath Amarasekara warned tha...
Adverse global shocks and Sri Lanka's road to recovery | Daily FT
Dr. W.A. Wijewardena delivering keynote Keynote at Economic and Taxation Symposium 2025 of ICASL – Part I Colombo forum on road to recovery In a recent forum in Colombo on Sri Lanka’s road to recovery with special reference to debt and governance participated by the country’s top policy leaders, IMF’s leading managers and select private sector top brass, President Anura Kumara Disanayake is reported to have stressed his Government’s commitment to continue with the ongoing reforms to improve economic conditions and assure lasting stability, while expressing his desire to make the current IMF program the last one in Sri Lanka’s history.1 Offering IMF’s response to this, its First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath is said to have appreciated the country’s commitment to reforms, while cautioning against the possibility of reverting to policy errors, a pitfall to which a country falls due to its failure to manage successfully the ailment known as ‘policy fatigue’.2 This forum was timely because it helped the country to assess its gains, identify policy errors, and make the necessary amends to keep the recovery program on track. It also provided an open forum for the three parties to meet and discuss the issues faced by the country when it takes the next step for consolidating the gains so far made to ensure sustained economic growth and stability. However, the wishes expressed will become a tall order in a background of adverse global shocks over which Sri Lanka does not have control. External shocks I wish to emphasise on two such external shocks which Sri Lanka should tackle immediately to keep the recovery program on track. One is the unilateral tariff hike by USA which is Sri Lanka’s largest export destination. The other is the sudden breakout of the military conflict between Israel and Iran dragging USA also as an active party to the conflict. Sri Lanka is not a party to either one, but these shocks have far-reaching implications on the country’s road to recovery. Origin of tariff issue The harsh tariff rates imposed by US President Donald Trump on all exporters to USA have squarely hit the poor countries that export mainly items like apparels and rubber products. The list is long, but the main victims are in Asia like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Trump had imposed very high reciprocal tariff rates on these countries because they had been running a trade surplus with USA. Though the tariffs so imposed have been given a p...
Sri Lanka's economy grew by 5 % in 2024: Central Bank
Sri Lanka's economy (GDP) grew by 5 per cent last year compared to a negative growth of -2.3 per cent in 2023, rounding up a strong economic recovery propelled by the IMF bailout package.
Beyond debt restructuring: Sri Lanka's narrow window to execute a ...
The Government now has approximately 1,200 days to the next Presidential election. Within that window, there is a much narrower effective reform period of ...
